Mobile Market

Business Insider reports on the growing role WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app, is playing the marketing of U.S.-based brokers.

Brokers courting Chinese buyers, now the largest source of foreign real estate investment in the U.S., are increasingly turning to the app, which allows the sharing of photos, videos, voice messages and more, to connect with property purchasers in the Asian nation.

I would pay $100 a month to use WeChat,“ said Jing Wang, a 36-year-old real estate agent for Lin Pan Realty Group in New York. "It would be much harder to be introduced and reach Chinese clients because many of the social websites, like Facebook, are blocked in China — that’s a lot of time and money.”

Maurice Owen-Michanne, 34, is another New York City based agent who who has sold a property worth $4 million over WeChat. The client had a legal representative who viewed the property, while the buyer relied on photos, blueprints and videos. Owen-Michanne speaks almost no Chinese.
“It’s helped tremendously break down the traditional barriers and strengthen my relationship with my clients,” he said.